A    MEMORIAL 


TO 


JOHN    O'CALLAGHAN 


* 


» 


& 


This  little  volume  is  published  by  the 
O'Callaghan  Memorial  Committee 

Dr.  James  T.  Gallagher 

Dr.  Henry  V.  McLaughlin 

John  Woods 


Angel  Guardian  Press 

Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 

1918 


JOHN    O'CALLAGHAN 


•i. 


JOHN  O'CALLAGHAN,  Nature's  Nobleman, 
was  born  in  Killavullen,  Mallow,  County  Cork, 
Ireland,  October  18,  1865.  He  was  educated 
in  the  National  Schools.  Mastering  shorthand 
when  a  mere  boy,  he  went  to  work  on  the  "Cork 
Herald,"  and  later  on  the  "Cork  Examiner." 
Even  then  he  took  an  active  interest  in  Irish 
affairs.  Longing  for  the  freedom  denied  him  at 
home  and  with  heart  bleeding  for  his  suffering 
country,  he  came  to  America  in  1887. 

Joining  the  staff  of  the  "Boston  Globe,"  he 
was  for  some  time  private  secretary  to  the 
Managing  Editor.  His  first  important  news- 
paper work  in  America  was  in  the  gubernatorial 
campaigns  of  William  E.  Russell.  Representing 
the  "Globe,"  he  accompanied  the  youthful 
Governor  in  his  three  contests,  and  aroused  his 
admiration  by  the  thorough  manner  in  which  the 
work  was  done.  He  reported  the  celebrated 
Trefethen  case  in  both  trials,  and  the  famous 
trial  of  the  seaman,  Bram.  Gifted  with  a  mar- 
vellous memory,  he  interviewed  with  remarkable 
accuracy,  scores  of  prominent  men,  National 
and  International. 

All  the  time  he  kept  in  close  touch  with  Irish 
events  and  sent  weekly  letters,  teeming  with 
information,  to  the  "Cork  Examiner"  and  the 
"Dublin  Weekly  Freeman."  He  was  chief  or- 
ganizer of  the  United  Irish  League  in  New  York 


in  1901,  and  at  its  first  National  Convention 
in  Boston,  in  1902,  he  was  elected  National 
Secretary,  which  position  he  held  at  the  time 
of  his  death. 

A  tireless  worker,  he  not  only  attended  to  the 
onerous  routine  business  of  the  League  office 
and  conducted  a  monthly  journal,  but  travelled 
here  and  there  and  everywhere  to  organize 
public  meetings  and  address  them  and  to  form 
branches  of  the  League,  while  all  the  time  at- 
tending to  his  regular  newspaper  duties  on  the 
"Globe." 

He  visited  Ireland  in  1893,  1903,  1906,  1907, 
1909  and  1912. 

He  watched  through  the  night  and  saw  the 
sunrise  of  Irish  hopes,  but  was  destined,  like 
Moses,  to  see,  but  never  enter,  the  Promised 
Land,  his  death  having  occurred  on  Sunday  morn- 
ing, July  27,  1913. 


Ireland's  loss  in  Ijis  Jieatlj,  unh  tlje  Ijiyl? 
esteem  in  whirl?  ffflr*  ©'©allayljan  was 
Ijelfc  by  tli  r  press  an&  people  of  turn  roun- 
tries,  are  feelingly  uoireti  iit  tl|e  following 
feiu  extrarts  from  many  tributes: 

''It  is  a  national  disaster  and  a  bitter  personal 
bereavement." — John  E.  Redmond,  M.  P. 

"His  work  was  of  incalculable  value  to  the 
Irish  cause." — William  H.  K.  Redmond,  M.  P. 

"One  of  the  staunchest  nationalists  I  have 
ever  known." — Patrick  O'Brien,  M.  P. 

"A  great,  good  and  just  man  gone." — Chicago 
Citizen, 

1 '  He  was  the  embodiment  of  energy,  and  was  the 
life  of  the  cause  in  America." — John  Dillon,  M.P. 

"He  spent  his  life  for  the  amelioration  of  hisfel- 
ow  countrymen. ' ' — Catholic  Register, Kansas  City. 

"In  O'Callaghan's  death,  Ireland  mourns  the 
loss  of  her  greatest  worker  in  America." — Joseph 
Devlin,  M.  P. 

"His  encyclopedic  knowledge  of  Irish  affairs, 
general,  local  and  personal,  showed  what  a  mar- 
vellous intellect  he  possessed." — Captain  Edward 
O' Meagher  Condon. 


"  Ireland  lost  a  great  protector,  and  demo- 
cratic government  a  warm  friend." — Rev.  Thomas 
I.  Gasson,  S.  J. 

"He  was  the  soul  of  the  Irish  movement, 
the  pen  and  voice  of  the  Irish  Party  in  America." 
— Michael  J.  Ryan. 

"John  O'Callaghan  was  the  essence  of  Irish 
patriotism.  Ireland  never  yet  produced  a  nobler 
son." — M.  F.  Dever. 

"No  nation  in  her  struggle  for  freedom  had  a 
more  worthy  son  than  did  Ireland  in  John 
O'Callaghan,  or  a  son  who  in  times  of  peace  got 
greater  results." — Hon.  John  F.  Fitzgerald. 

"Ireland  was  his  love  and  the  object  of  his 
religious  devotion.  For  Ireland  he  lived,  and 
for  Ireland  he  died.  The  memorial  he  would 
wish  is  Ireland's  freedom." — Lady  Gregory. 

"Devotion  to  his  ideals  made  him  the  great 
leader  he  was,  and  an  undying  loyalty  made  him 
a  great  and  beloved  man  among  the  people  of 
his  race  everywhere." — Edward  J.  Drey. 

"John  O'Callaghan  worked  harder  and  ren- 
dered more  effective  service  for  Ireland  than 
any  other  man  of  his  generation." — Edward  J. 
Gallagher. 


'The  cause  of  Home  Rule  has  lost  one  who 
stood  in  the  forefront  of  its  most  able,  zealous,  and 
indefatigable  workers." — Hon.  Charles  J.  Doherty. 

"No  truer  son  of  Ireland  ever  labored  in  her 
cause,  or  devoted  more  time,  energy  or  talent  to 
her  service." — The  Irish  Parliamentary  Party. 

"John  O'Callaghan  had  so  ardent  a  spirit,  so 
generous  a  heart,  convictions  so  honest  and  so 
vehement,  that  he  spent  himself  in  incessant 
work.  He  was  more  like  a  dynamo  than  a  crea- 
ture of  flesh  and  blood."—  T.  P.  O'Connor,  M.  P. 

"The  real  heart  of  his  greatness  was  his  eager- 
ness to  serve  mankind.  Service  with  him  was  not 
self-sacrifice,  it  was  but  the  self-expression  of  the 
great  unselfish  man  John  O'Callaghan  was." — 
Boston  Globe. 

"He  was  the  most  valuable  man  that  was  ever 
connected  with  the  League,  and  knew  more 
about  the  history  of  the  Irish  cause  than  any 
other  man  in  this  country." — Augustine  J.  Daly. 

"John  O'Callaghan  was  the  life  and  moving 
spirit  of  the  United  Irish  League  here.  It  was 
a  pleasure  and  a  privilege  to  have  known  him, 
and  thousands  of  his  fellow  countrymen  will  be 
better  off  and  happier  because  he  lived." — 
Patrick  Ford. 


10 


" Aside  from  the  Irish  question  John  O'Calla- 
ghan  will  be  sincerely  missed  by  his  hosts  of 
friends  and  fellow  workers  in  the  newspaper 
business,  for  there  was  no  more  and  modest 
genuinely  capable  and  absolutely  fair  man  in  it 
than  John  O'Callaghan." — Boston  Post. 

1  'His  absolute  spirit  of  honesty,  his  indomi- 
table energy,  his  unquestioning  spirit  of  loyalty, 
his  readiness  at  every  time  to  give  himself  to 
the  cause  of  Ireland,  marked  him  as  a  man  whose 
like  is  rarely  ever  seen." — Dublin  Freeman's 
Journal. 

"  Unselfish  devotion,  reinforced  by  deeds,  was 
the  salient  trait  of  John  O'Callaghan's  character. 
Another  trait  was  his  capacity  for  persistent 
effort.  He  never  halted,  never  wavered,  never 
was  diverted  from  his  high  purpose.  Such  ser- 
vices as  he  performed,  both  officially  and  un- 
officially, for  promoting  Home  Rule  for  Ireland, 
can  never  be  justly  estimated  in  money." — 
General  Charles  H.  Taylor. 

"When  the  news  was  flashed  from  Boston 
that  John  O'Callaghan  was  dead,  a  thrill  of 
real  personal  loss  was  carried  to  every  Irishman, 
and  every  friend  of  Ireland's  cause  the  world 
over.  Many  men  are  statesmen,  many  are 
leaders,  many  are  warriors,  the  world  is  full  of 


11 


sterling-hearted  men,  loveable  men,  earnest 
workers,  high-souled  idealists,  but  men  who 
combine  all  these  virtues  under  one  modest, 
unassuming  exterior  are  very  few  indeed, — 
such  a  man  was  John  O'Callaghan.  From  the 
first  day  in  his  early  youth  when  he  enrolled 
himself  under  the  banner  that  Michael  Davitt 
flung  out  over  the  ranks  of  a  united  Ireland, 
John  O'Callaghan  has  been  in  the  vanguard. 
He  never  shirked  and  he  never  spared  himself  in 
the  big  task  that  wTas  his  life  work.  And  when 
John  O'Callaghan  spoke,  Irish- America  respond- 
ed. He  was  known,  trusted,  and  loved.  He 
never  failed  his  friends  as  he  never  failed  Ireland, 
as  he  never  failed  the  truth." — The  Irish  World. 


13 


In  St.  Paul's  Cemetery,  Arlington,  on  the 
grave  of  John  O'Callaghan,  there  was  unveiled 
on  Thursday  morning,  December  27,  1917,  a 
Celtic  Cross.  It  is  a  tribute  from  a  few  close 
friends,  men  and  women,  who  were  intimately 
associated  with  him  in  his  work,  both  as  an  Irish 
leader  and  a  newspaperman. 

In  keeping  with  the  life  of  the  man  whose 
memory  was  being  honored,  the  ceremonies 
were  simple.  The  monument  was  unveiled  by 
Eleanor,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Mr.  O'Calla- 
ghan.    It  bears  this  inscription: 

JOHN    O'CALLAGHAN 

Died  July  27,  1913 

Age  48  Years 

"  One  of  the  Noblest  of  God's  Creatures 

Whose  love  for  Ireland  was  the  Soul  of  his  Being. " 

Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  V.  Tracey,  pastor  of  St. 
Columbkille's  Church,  Brighton,  where  Mr. 
O'Callaghan  was  a  parishioner,  offered  prayer. 
Dr.  James  T.  Gallagher,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee in  charge  of  the  fund  for  the  monument, 
then  epitomized  in  a  brief  address  the  great 
work  done  for  Ireland  by  their  comrade,  and  the 
love  and  loyalty  cherished  by  his  intimate 
friends.     Dr.  Gallagher  said: 

"To  remember  and  pray  for  the  dead  are 
holy  things,  too  often  forgotten.    To  honor  the 


14 


memory  of  the  dear  departed  is  and  should  be  a 
sacred  duty.  We  are  here  today  to  honor  one 
we  all  knew  and  dearly  loved. 

"John  O'Callaghan  was  no  ordinary  man — 
no  fair-weather  sailor  on  the  stormy  sea  of  Irish 
politics.  Many  good  and  great  men  toiled, 
suffered,  and  died  that  Ireland  might  live,  but 
not  one  of  them  more  fully  typified  the  unselfish 
patriot  or  the  tireless  toiler  than  the  late  National 
Secretary  of  the  United  Irish  League. 

"In  early  youth,  in  his  native  Cork,  he  saw 
the  Ireland  of  his  dreams  rag-garmented  on  the 
hills  and  bowed  with  the  weight  of  centuried 
wrong,  and  with  the  chivalry  of  the  knights  of 
old,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Crusaders,  he 
went  forth  to  lighten  her  load,  to  garb  her  in 
glory,  and  crown  her  with  the  diadem  of  her 
long-lost  liberty. 

"In  pursuit  of  his  dream  he  crossed  the 
Atlantic  and  was  the  soul  of  the  Irish  movement 
in  America.  He  was  a  good  citizen  and  loved 
America,  though  he  worshipped  Ireland.  With 
remarkable  power  and  tireless  pen  he  pictured 
for  American  eyes,  poor  Erin's  woes.  No 
trumpet  blared  his  onslaughts  on  the  citadel  of 
merciless  power,  but  they  were  effective.  Grad- 
ually right  was  winning  her  way. 

"Slowly  but  surely,  the  night  of  her  sorrow 
was  moving  towards  the  day.  But  just  as  the 
dawn  he  longed  to  see  was  gladdening  the  Irish 


[5 


hills,  his  pure  spirit  winged  its  way  to  the  bosom 
of  its  God.  Sorrow  clouded  the  movement  he 
created,  for  he  left  no  successor.  But  may  we 
not  hope  the  God  of  Justice  will  soon  make  real 
his  life-long  dream? 

"The  Celtic  Cross  here  raised  to  sentinel  his 
sleep,  is  not  a  national  monument.  It  is  erected 
to  his  memory  by  a  few  co-workers.  It  sym- 
bolizes our  love  for  the  noble  and  true.  The 
finger  of  Time  may  erase  his  name  from  its 
granite  shaft,  the  breath  of  centuries  may  crum- 
ble it  to  dust,  and  the  grave  it  marks  may  be 
forgotten,  but  the  worth  it  commemorates  will 
live  in  Ireland's  memory  while  the  green  grass 
mantles  her  meadows  and  the  heather  waves  on 
her  purple  hills." 


16 


Present  at  the  unveiling  were: 

Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  V.  Tracey,  Brighton;  Dr. 
James  T.  Gallagher,  Charlestown;  John  Woods, 
South  Boston;  Dr.  Henry  V.  McLaughlin, 
Brookline;  Mary,  Margaret,  John  and  Eleanor 
O'Callaghan,  children  of  John  O'Callaghan;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Patrick  O'Callaghan,  Brighton;  John 
Fitzgerald,  Washington,  D.  C;  Robert  Foye 
and  Edward  Foye,  Quincy;  Mrs.  Thomas  Hogan, 
Cambridge;  Miss  Margaret  Fitzgerald,  Brighton; 
Patrick  J.  Slane,  Dorchester;  Mrs.  Jeremiah 
Cronin,  South  Boston;  Mrs.  Peter  McKenna, 
South  Boston;  Patrick  Powers,  South  Boston; 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fox,  South  Boston;  Mrs.  John 
Barrett,  Brighton;  Mrs.  Charles  Baszel,  New 
Jersey;  John  M.  Stenson,  Jamaica  Plain;  James 
Hayes,  South  Boston;  Thomas  F.  O'Malley, 
Cambridge;  Miss  Mary  B.  Delaney,  South 
Natick;  James  T.  Sullivan,  Allston. 


17 


Subscribers  to 

JOHN    O'CALLAGHAN 

MEMORIAL    CELTIC     CROSS 

Dr  James  T.  Gallagher,  Charlestown 

Dr.  Henry  V.  McLaughlin,  Brookline 

John  Woods,  South  Boston 

Rev.  Joseph  V.  Tracey,  D.  D.,  Brighton 

General  Charles  H.  Taylor,  Boston 

A.  Shuman,  Boston 

Edward  J.  Gallagher,  Lowell 

Daniel  H.  Coakley,  Brighton 

Michael  Maynes,  Roxbury 

T.  B.  Fitzpatrick,  Brookline 

Frank  J.  O'Hara,  Winchester 

Denis  A.  Scannell,  Cambridge 

Patrick  J.  Slane,  Dorchester 

James  T.  Sullivan,  Allston 

Denis  O'Reilly,  South  Boston 

Miss  Marie  Narelle,  New  York  City 

Dr.  Edward  F.  Timmins,  South  Boston 

Stephen  McFarland,  New  York 

Edward  L.  Hopkins,  South  Boston 

Joseph  P.  Gormley,  Boston 

James  Woods,  South  Boston 

Patrick  Higgins,   Boston 

Peter  Woods,  South  Boston 


18 


Bernard  J.  Joyce,  Winthrop 

Mrs.  Teresa  Bray  ton,  New  York  City 

William  Kirby,  South  Boston 

Joseph  A.  Dennison,  Boston 

Thomas  F.  Keenan,  Boston 

Miss  Mary  J.  Donovan,  Boston 

Miss  L.  M.  Harrington,  Winthrop 

Miss  Mary  B.  Delaney,  South  Natick 

Mrs.  Thomas  Hogan,  Cambridge 

Miss  Margaret  J.  Fitzgerald,  Brighton 

Miss  Mary  O'Flaherty,  New  York  City 

Rev.  John  M.  Harrington,  Orono,  Maine 

Mrs.  Anna  Mitchell,  Jamaica  Plain 

Mrs.  Annie  M.  O'Callaghan,  Brighton 

Mrs.  John  Barrett,  New  York  City 

Charles  J.  O'Malley,  Brookline 

Hon.  John  F.  Fitzgerald,  Boston 

P.  A.  Foley,  South  Boston 

William  J.  Foley,  South  Boston 

T.  J.  Murphy,  South  Boston 

Michael  Murray,  Nantasket 

John  Howlett,  Medford 

Edward  J.  Slattery,  Boston 

James  E.  Cotter,  Hyde  Park 

T.  P.  O'Connor,  M.  P.,  House  of  Commons,  London 

Richard  Hazleton,  M.  P.,  House  of  Commons,  London 

William  Gosnell,  Charlestown 


19 


At  a  memorial  meeting  for  John  O'Callaghan,  held  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  Boston,  Sunday  evening,  September  28,  1913.  the  following 
poem,  written  for  the  occasion,  was  read  by  Dr.  James  T.  Gallagher: 

Will  he  never  see  thy  splendor,  Innisfail? 
He  that  loved  thee  when  thy  star  of  hope  was  pale, 
Will  he  never  pen  the  story  of  the  sunburst's  golden  glory 

As  it  waves  a  nation  s  symbol  o'er  the  triumph  of  the  Gael, 
As  it  flashes  forth  triumphant  o'er  the  hosting  of  the  Gael? 

Will  he  never  organize  a  League  procession, 

Nor  rebuke  the  pseudo  patriot's  trangression? 

Will  his  mouth  be  only  clay  and  his  pencil  laid  away 

When  at  last  shall  break  the  morning  on  thy  new-redeemed  possession, 
He  that  lived  and  died  to  win  for  thee  the  nation's  intercession? 

When  the  universe  shall  rock  with  jubilations, 
As  thou  take  thy  olden  place  among  the  nations, 
When  thy  people  riches  bring  thee,  and  thy  poets  praise  and  sing  thee, 
And  thy  banished  sons  returning  shall  be  hailed  with  acclamations, 
Must  his  tongue  be  chained  in  silence  that  had  voiced  thy  tribula- 
tions? 

Ah,  he  loved  thee  with  a  love  beyond  explaining, 
And  he  toiled  for  thee  forever  uncomplaining. 
With  a  heart  as  true  as  Tone's,  and  a  spirit  brave  as  Owen's, 

And  a  purpose  high  as  Emmet's,  all  the  Saxon  power  disdaining, 
He  aimed  to  make  thee  free  and  great — a  nation  self-sustaining ! 

He  was  ever  with  the  dawning  and  the  sunlight, 

And  he  saw  the  silver  lining  in  thy  dark  night, 

Oh,  his  heart  will  never  stay  in  its  gloomy  house  of  clay, 

When  the  thunder  of  the  cheering  shall  proclaim  thy  crowning  glory, 
And  his  soul  shall  hover  round  thee,  to  inspire  thy  future  story  \ 

To  thy  loving  bosom  take  him,  Motherland, 
He  will  sleep  a  little  softer  on  thy  strand. 
Make  for  him  an  Irish  grave,  in  some  ancient  abbey  nave, 

Where  the  shamrocks  shall  be  greener  for  sweet  dews  and  breezes 

bland, 
And  the  Celtic  Cross  above  him,  like  a  sentinel,  shall  stand. 


DATE  DUE 

IIM     ?3?lU 

UNIVERSITY  PRODUCTS,  INC.    #859-5503 

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